Samantha "Sam" Gash is a contestant from Australian Survivor (2017) and Australian Survivor: Blood v Water.
A self-proclaimed control freak, Sam started 2017 at the top of the Asaga tribe, believing herself to be one of the tribe's biggest assets due to her athleticism. However, her social game was lacking, as her bossy personality, paranoia of her position on Asaga and tight relationship with Mark Wales led to Henry Nicholson deciding to throw the next challenge to blindside her on the tribe's following Tribal Council.
Sam returned alongside her now husband Mark in Blood v Water, where she improved on her social game and became a major strategic force throughout the season. Along with her ally Jesse Hansen, she dictated the outcome of numerous pre-merge Tribal Councils as a swing vote before entering the majority alliance after the merge. She infamously "stole" Jesse's Hidden Immunity Idol at the final eleven, starting a feud with Jordie Hansen. Eventually, Sam would revert to her paranoid ways and become a major target in the endgame. Having made many enemies and run out of allies, Sam agreed to sacrifice her game for Mark to advance to the finals, letting herself be voted out in 8th place.
Profile
Retrieved from 10play.com.au
Age: 32
Occupation: Endurance Athlete
State: Victoria
Tribe: Asaga
She stands just under 152 cm tall with a petite frame, but do not let Samantha's size fool you.
Samantha took up running in 2008 as a break from studying law and after just a 16-week training program, she completed the Melbourne marathon. She then looked for her next challenge, the 4 Deserts Grand Slam, four ultra-marathons across Chile, China, Sahara and Antarctica.
She made history by becoming the first woman and the youngest person ever to complete the race, which is known as one of the toughest endurance events on the planet.
Physically strong, Samantha says that strategic game play that will be hard for her. "I routinely push myself out of my comfort zone. However, the aspect of Survivor that means that you cannot trust people or count on them having your back is new to me. All of the projects I have worked on that take me out of my comfort zone have always involved collaborating with supportive people."
A World Vision ambassador, Samantha is passionate about human rights and aims to raise awareness and funds through her endurance runs. She has raised $50,000 for educating young women in South Africa and $30,000 for Save The Children.
Despite helping people every day through her charity work, her time on Australian Survivor will be different.
"When I am at the start line of a race, I have an inner mongrel spirit that comes out, and I think that's going to come out on Survivor," she said.
"I have more mental grit than anyone out there. I have the tools to win this. I have run marathons so I reckon I can hang on longer than anybody else."[1]
Sam, 37, Endurance Athlete, Victoria
Mark was last seen on Australian Survivor Season 2, where he formed a power couple with fellow castaway Sam. The two fell in love, were married in 2019 and have a son together.
Sam's mantra is "composure and calm, this is a marathon not a sprint", and says she doesn't have a game play as she wants to adapt to the people she is playing with.
Why do you think you were chosen to be on Survivor?
My husband and I met on Australian Survivor and made the cardinal sin of getting swept up in our connection at the detriment of playing the game. Our whole tribe turned against us and we were swiftly voted out.
What are you most looking forward to?
Australian Survivor
2017
Samantha was placed on the Asaga tribe. A self-confessed control freak, Samantha took it upon herself to ensure everyone was voting against either Kent Nelson or Joan Caballero once their tribe lost the first Immunity Challenge. She set it up so Joan would receive six votes and Kent would receive four. Her perceived bossiness quickly became an issue with Luke Toki, Jericho Malabonga, and Ben Morgan, so in response, Luke came up with an idea to cause a tie vote and shake things up. To Samantha's surprise, the result was a 6-6 tie, though Joan was voted out in the revote.
Slowly but surely, people became nervous around Samantha. This wasn't helped by her constant checking in with her tribemates to ensure no one was turning against her. Henry Nicholson and Jacqui Patterson especially grew tired of her and also saw her as a threat due to her closeness with Mark Wales. Henry attempted to throw a challenge to get rid of her on two occasions, only being successful on the second attempt at on Day 16. Samantha thought that the entire tribe aside from Michelle Dougan and Ben were on board to vote Michelle out with Ben as a secondary split vote target. Henry, Jacqui, Kent, Luke, and Sarah kept her thinking her plan would work despite Mark and Sam's suspicions. Ultimately, Henry and Jacqui were successful in ousting the perceived threat, ending Samantha's game at 19th place.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asaga | Race to Shore | Reward | No | Lost |
| Flint | Reward | Yes | Won | ||
| Uprising | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| 2 | Slip, Slop, Slap | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Hammer Time | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 3 | Boulder Dash | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Raft and the Furious | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 4 | Surf Nets | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Upstacle | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 5 | Chain Reaction | Immunity | No | Won | |
| 6 | By the Numbers | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Polar Express | Immunity | Yes | Lost | ||
| Voted Out, Day 16 | |||||
Blood v Water
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blood | Water Slaughter | Reward | No | Lost |
| Gatecrasher | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 2 | (No title) | Reward | Yes | Lost | |
| Yank Your Hank | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 3 | (No title) | Reward | No | Won | |
| A Bit Tipsy | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| 4 | In the Trenches | Reward | No | Won | |
| Boats, Brains & Brawn | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| 5 | Sumo at Sea | Reward | No | Lost | |
| (No title) | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 6 | By Any Means Necessary | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Free Fallin' | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| Switched Tribes, Day 15 | |||||
| 7 | Water | Boats Tug of War | Reward | No | Won |
| Puppet Master | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 8 | Chain Reaction | Immunity | No | Lost | |
| 9 | (No title) | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Operation Balance Build | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 10 | Slip, Slide & Score | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Losing Face | Reward/Immunity | Yes | Lost | ||
| 11 | Spoon Man | Immunity | No | Lost | |
| 12 | Ballin' A Jack | Immunity1 | Received2 | ||
| Tribes Merged, Day 25 | |||||
| 13 | Lava | A Bit Tipsy | Reward | Lost | |
| Wrist Assured | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 14 | Fire and Water | Immunity | Lost | ||
| 15 | Well Stacked | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Take the Reins | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 16 | Chimney Sweep | Immunity | Lost | ||
| 17 | Paddle Out | Reward | Lost | ||
| Audio Slave | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 18 | (No title) | Immunity | Lost | ||
| 19 | Survivor Auction | ||||
| (No title) | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 20 | Domino Effect | Immunity | Lost | ||
| Voted Out, Day 40 | |||||
| Notes: | |||||
| Episode | Sam's Votes |
Voted Against Sam |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blood Tribe Immune | |
| 2 | Blood Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | Sandra | - |
| 4 | Mock Vote1 | |
| 5 | Blood Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Jay | - |
| 7 | Water Tribe Immune | |
| 8 | Sophie | - |
| 9 | Water Tribe Immune | |
| 10 | Mock Vote2 | |
| 11 | Croc | - |
| 12 | Ben | Individual Immunity3 |
| 13 | Mel | - |
| 14 | Mel | - |
| 15 | Jesse | - |
| 16 | Shay | - |
| 17 | Jordie | Jordie |
| KJ | David | |
| 18 | Michelle | - |
| 19 | Jordie | - |
| 20 | Jordie | David, Jordie, Josh, KJ, Shay |
| Voted Out, Day 40 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Mark | |
^1 In "Episode 4", the Blood tribe was subjected to a mock Tribal Council where the player they voted out was switched to the other tribe.
^2 In "Episode 10", the Water tribe was subjected to a mock Tribal Council where the players voted against were eligible to be kidnapped by the other tribe.
^3 In "Episode 12", Khanh originally won Individual Immunity, but gave it to Sam during Tribal Council.
Post-Survivor
- Sam entered a relationship with fellow contestant Mark Wales after their first season ended. Sam gave to their first child, son Harry Lock Wales, on March 30, 2018.[2] The couple became engaged on January 7, 2019.[3] and would later marry on December 14, 2019. Jacqui Patterson officiated the wedding, while Jarrad Seng was the photographer. AK Knight, Aimee Stanton, Jericho Malabonga, and Luke Toki also attended the wedding.[4]
- In 2019, Sam, alongside her husband Mark, competed on World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji, as part of 'Team Aussie Rescue'. Two of their opponents were Survivor contestants Ryan Opray and Mikayla Wingle.
- Sam, Mark, and their son, Harry, appeared on the 18th of August, 2022 episode of The Dog House Australia.[5]
- Mark and Sam seperated at some point prior to April 2025.[6]
Trivia
- Sam and her husband Mark are the second pair of returning players internationally with a familial relationship to compete in a season, following Rob and Amber Mariano.
- Sam and Mark however are the first all-returning player pair to compete in a Blood v. Water format.
- Sam is the highest-placing woman of the original Blood tribe.
- Sam is the highest-placing castaway on Blood v Water to be eliminated before her loved one.
- In Blood v Water, Sam lasted the most days of any contestant before receiving her first vote.
References
- ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-2/sam/pa190708ykqhw
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg5cSzLBcpV/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsr4EbdHn_P/
- ↑ https://www.newidea.com.au/samantha-gash-and-mark-wales-our-survivor-wedding
- ↑ "Dog House Australia: Aug 18". TV Tonight. 15 August 2022. https://tvtonight.com.au/2022/08/dog-house-australia-aug-18.html. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/DIvMmmfsBhh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
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